Zimbabwe GOVT fires 448 doctors
At least 448 doctors out of the 598 appearing before disciplinary hearings for failure to report for duty at public hospitals have been fired, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has announced.
Minister Mutsvangwa made the announcement this evening during a post Cabinet briefing at Munhumutapa Government Offices.
Doctors have been on strike over poor pay and work conditions for nearly three months. Before today, more than 200 junior and middle-level doctors had already been fired.
On Tuesday the doctors asked Vice President Constantino Chiwenga to first address their concerns as well as the chaos that is prevailing in public health institutions.
Chiwenga quietly jetted into the country on Saturday after spending almost four months in China where he was being treated for an unknown illness.
The Zimbabwe Hospitals Doctors’ Association (ZHDA) urged Chiwenga to bring normalcy to the healthcare system which has seen most hospitals shutting down their major service departments.
“It is our sincere hope that the Vice-President will now take the opportunity to look into the Zimbabwean healthcare system and get things back to normal beginning with ensuring decent salaries for health staff working towards uplifting our system to first class standards,” the doctors’ grouping posted on its official Twitter account.
